New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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